190 OF THE ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING 



a party against the present time ; so that the ancient 

 authors, both in divinity and in humanity, which had long 

 time slept in libraries, began generally to be read and 

 revolved. This by consequence did draw on a necessity 

 of a more exquisite travail in the languages original wherein 

 those authors did write, for the better understanding of 

 those authors and the better advantage of pressing and 

 applying their words. And thereof grew again a delight 

 in their manner of style and phrase, and an admiration of 

 thaj kind of writing ; which was much furthered and pre- 

 cfpitated by the enmity and opposition that the propounders 

 of those (primitive but seeming new) opinions had against 

 the schoolmen ; who were generally of the contrary part, 

 and whose writings were altogether in a differing style and 

 form ; taking liberty to coin and frame new terms of art 

 to express their own sense and to avoid circuit of speech, 

 without regard to the pureness, pleasantness, and (as I 

 may call it) lawfulness of the phrase or word. And again, 

 because the great labour then was with the people, (of 

 whom the Pharisees were wont to say, Execrabilis ista turba, 

 quae non novit legem^) for the winning and persuading of 

 them, there grew of necessity in chief price and request 

 eloquence and variety of discourse, as the fittest and for- 

 ciblest access into the capacity of the vulgar sort. So that 

 these four causes concurring, the admiration of ancient 

 authors, the hate of the schoolmen, the exact study of 

 languages, and the efficacy of preaching, did bring in an 

 affectionate study of eloquence and copie of speech, which 

 then began to flourish. This grew speedily to an excess ; 

 men began to hunt more after words than matter ; and 

 more after the choiceness of the phrase, and the round and 

 clean composition of the sentence, and the sweet falling of 

 the clauses, and the varying and illustration of their works 

 with tropes and figures, than after the weight of matter, 

 worth of subject, soundness of argument, life of invention, 

 or depth of judgment. Then grew the flowing and watery 

 vein of Osorius, the Portugal bishop, to be in price. Then 

 did Sturmius spend such infinite and curious pains upon 

 Cicero the orator and Hermogenes the rhetorician, besides 



